Backing up databases

["Anne C. Oelke" <anne@OELKE.COM>]

I think I can weigh in on both sides here--I am not only the librarian, but
also the network administrator, so it is my job to do the backups of the
server.  I can guarantee that my data is backed up!  My backups are good--I
check them periodically.  And I have had to restore from tape more than
once.  Redundancy is critical here.  More than one backup should hopefully
ensure that you'll never have to use any of them!  A quick recap here--most
of these issues have been addressed, though not all in one place.  Tony
Doyle had many excellent suggestions.

Back the server to tape or other media (perhaps you have a raid system--too
techy to get into here).
Back the server nightly--after any system backups are made.  Winnebago
Spectrum has its own backup that runs nightly.
Rotate the tapes or media.
Periodically replace the tapes or media.
Check the backups to be sure they are good.
Store a backup off-site--if the school burns or blows away, you'll still
have a copy of the database.  Rotate this off-site backup as well.
Back your library database from the server onto a local hard drive or other
media. (This is your redundancy).
Replace servers regularly. (I've heard the term of every 3 years--it
depends on the use).

I keep a set of tapes at home since I live over 5 miles from the school
building.   If I lived within a block or two, I'd send the tapes with
someone else--I want no chance that the same tornado can get the school and
my house.  I run the nightly Spectrum backup, then backup to
tape.  Occasionally I back up to my hard drive on my
workstation.  Similarly, I keep a copy of my files on the server as well as
on my local hard drive.  And then occasionally I burn those files to a
CD.  Now that we have 2 servers on our network, I copy the library data
onto the other server as well.  Our servers also have mirrored drives, so
if one drive goes, the other has all the data.  Perhaps this seems a bit
paranoid, but just the thought of losing all of  our data is really
scary.  Hard drives will fail.  Servers will crash.  Server hard drives
will fail.  The only question is when.

Anne C. Oelke  Library Media Specialist
Cambria-Friesland School District
Cambria, WI. US  53923
mailto:anne@oelke.com

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